Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland has demanded the Federal government to expeditiously resolve the diplomatic row with UAE to enable the region access $3.6M part of cash held after an aircraft from the Gulf state was seized recently.
Speaking to VOA Somali Puntland Regional President Abdiweli Ali Gaas said he had confirmed that a portion of the money was ear tagged for Puntland.
“I called and asked Mohamed Osman about the fund which was seized at Mogadishu airport, I was told it was a total of $9.6and $3.6 was meant for Puntland forces which I later shared that information with the head state,” Gaas told VOA Somali
“Sometimes we ought to ask and it is mandatory to ask of course an agreement can exist between the UAE government and the state of Puntland and if so then it is possible and it is needed to end the misunderstandings between them, ” Gaas said.
President Gaas said that UAE is a major development partner for Puntland.
“Thus I request UAE government to allow us to resolve our misunderstandings” he added.
Following the seizure of the cache of money, UAE said the amount was meant to pay for over 2400 SNA soldiers and Puntland’s Maritime Police Forces.
UAE has since disbanded military assistance to Somalia.
A statement issued on Monday by Ministry of Foreign Affairs said talks are underway to resolve this latest diplomatic spat between Mogadishu and Abu Dhabi.
